The truth is the same when preached by one man as another. If an
idolater should come here and present the truth, its being delivered
by him would not make it any less true. What has been said today by
brother James W. Cummings is the Gospel of Christ, and salvation to
everyone that hears and obeys it. Is the Gospel the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that heareth it? No; but he that heareth these
words of mine and doeth them, says Jesus, the same shall be saved.
If I should preach the Gospel as Jesus did when he said, "Go ye
therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to
observe all things whatsoever I have com manded you: and, lo, I am with
you always, even unto the end of the world" —well, now, he that
believeth and is baptized—does that save the man? No. But there are
ten thousand commandments that are connected to that. The Apostle
says, Go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of
repentance from dead works.
This is for you and me to do, and we are required to do it today and
tomorrow, next year and continually, and live by every word that
proceedeth out of the mouth of God, and practice it in our lives, in
our conversation, at our homes, and when we are abroad.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved: that is only one
principle. Baptism alone will not save a man, but the fruits
of righteousness will. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost; and when you have taught them, and got them into the fold,
then teach them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you
to teach them. Teach them to do everything that pertains to
righteousness, and to abstain from everything that is wicked.
When I was baptized, I had heard the Gospel and believed it. Then I
went and submitted myself to it in humility. I began to pray before I
was baptized. As soon as I heard this Gospel, I began to inquire of
the Father, in the name of the Son, if it was true. I received a
testimony of it, and bore testimony for months to my neighbors and to
the inhabitants in the country where I lived, and told them it was
true. A great many of them believed it; and as soon as we received it
and had the authority, I administered to others. Many more received
it, being baptized for the remission of sins. When I received the
truth, I commenced a new life, and I have endeavored to live it
from that day to this. Do I realize that I am a poor creature? I do,
and the more light I have the more I see this; and the less light a
man has the less he sees and knows his imperfections. The more light
and knowledge a man has the more he sees he is nothing without God.
I am preaching the Gospel in connection with brother James Cummings.
What he said is true; and if you observe and practice it, you shall
know these things, whether he spoke of himself or whether he
spoke of the doctrine of Christ. He talked about famine, and
pestilence, and earthquakes, and hurricanes, and mighty winds, in the
States. These things are raging in the countries where Joseph dwelt,
and those that exulted in the death of Joseph and Hyrum, David and
Parley, and hundreds of our fathers and mothers, and our brothers and
sisters, will suffer for it. They said to the nation and to the army,
Go there and make a desolation of that people, and as God liveth he
will make a desolation of them. [The congregation responded, "Amen."]
God has revealed this to me, and I know it will come to pass. You may
call this prophecy or anything else you please, it matters not to me.
What I know I understand as well as anybody else. Have not they done
this? They have practiced it upon us. God will put a hook in their
jaws and lead them, and has done from that day to this, and he will
continue to do so from this day henceforth and forever. He will lead
the whole of the nations of the earth, and they cannot help
themselves, and I know it.
The Eastern papers give a full account of the great winds, and the
great destruction occasioned by them. Such winds are horrible that
will lift off the road ten baggage trains loaded with from five to ten
tons weight each, and smash them as a reed, and take off tops of
houses, blow down chimneys, tearing them asunder, and burying them in
the earth. Whole cities are laid desolate, and not a whole piece of
furniture is to be found.
The Lord and his angels are at work to measure to the inhabitants of
the earth as they measured to his people. This will be done, and they
cannot help it. Jesus says, "With that measure ye mete, it shall be
measured to you again." These words are true, and will never fail;
they cannot be avoided, if God is just. He will not reap where he has
not sown. If I reap where I have not sown, I reap another man's crop.
Where we sow the word of life, there we shall reap; and if we
bring forth the fruits of righteousness, we shall reap to our joy, and
shall be satisfied.
To him that hath he will give more, and from him that hath not he will
take away that which he seemeth to have, and give it to him that will
improve upon his talents. Let us be faithful and keep the commandments
of God, and leave the event with him. The majority of this people are
trying to do right, and are improving in righteousness to my certain
knowledge. On the other hand, it gives me pain when I go into this
place and that, and suppose I am talking to Latter-day Saints, and I
find I am conversing with thieves and robbers; and here they are right
in your midst. "How do you do, brother James, George, or Brigham? How
glad I am to see you," and at the same time they are laying the axe at
the root of the kingdom of God to destroy it. They are in our midst.
They are to be found in the grog shops and in all public places,
watching and hearing what is said, and you and I and all the rest are
sitting down to go to sleep.
I want to refer to what brother James has said this morning. He told
you the truth. Receive it, practice it, live it, and enjoy it, that
the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost may take up their abode with
you. Where the Father takes up his abode, there will the Son be; and
where the Father and the Son dwell, there will the Holy Ghost dwell
also, because they are one. We should be one like unto them. A great
many neglect their prayers. Should they do this? No. A great many
women that live by themselves neglect their prayers, and God forsakes
them, and Satan takes possession, and they have no power over
themselves; the light of God leaves them, and they are stupified: when
they hear they heed not, and when they see they believe not. Jesus
says—"He that heareth these words of mine, and doeth them, I will
liken him unto a man that built his house upon a rock; when the winds
blew and the floods came, it fell not, because it was founded upon a
rock. But he that heareth these words of mine, and doeth them not, I
will liken him unto a foolish man that built his house upon the sand;
and when the winds blew and the floods came, it fell, because it was
built upon the sand." They go down to hell—to that which is beneath.
That which is from God cometh from heaven.
I will not say much more about grain: you can do as you please. I
might just as well say nothing about it, for I know none will listen
to it but good Saints, men of God, and men that have an experience,
and can see things as they are: they are the men that will save this
people. If one to fifty proves a savior in the end, I shall think
that things are much better than I expected to find them. And those
who have not skill, power, and wisdom, and salvation enough to save
themselves and families temporally, what are they going to do with the
spirit? The spirit goes into the spirit world, and then has to be
taken by some Bishop—some man that has power to feed them, to lead
them, and teach them in the ways of salvation. We are not going, then,
as some suppose, in a hurry.
God bless the righteous brethren, and your righteous wives and
children, and your children's children, forever. Can I say God bless
the thief and the robber, the whore and the whoremonger, and those
that love and make lies? No. I will leave them just where they are;
for they will meet the demands of justice, and they will welter and
wallow in that pit they have dug for themselves; and they
cannot avoid it. I feel to bless every man I meet that is a good man;
and if I was oil, I would run through him. But when I see a wicked man
and woman running after the Gentiles to be contaminated with their
cursed lies, I say, You have damnation enough in yourselves. I will
not say a word to them. You poor miserable creatures, trying to bring
desolation upon the people—upon the Israel of God, you are building a
fire big enough to burn you up, and I know there will be an end of you
some day. God bless the righteous, and peace be with you! And God
bless the righteous throughout the world, and all those who believe in
the words of Jesus Christ, and on the servants of the living God!
Amen.
- Heber C. Kimball